Slayer vs Warrior
by Miss Kayl
Summary: What if the Initiative didn't completely lose interest in Buffy Summers--or rather Buffy Summers' abilities? This story is dedicated to Lisette, for giving me the idea. Chap 4 Up.
1. Request

Summary Extended: Remember when the Initiative was shut down? What if interest in Buffy Summers had not been dropped? This is for Lisette, who first introduced us to what the Slayer without the Buffy we all know and love behind her could be like in her excellent Pretender crossover Twist of Fate. 

Chapter One

"The power of the Slayer and all who yield it. Last to ancient first, we invoke thee. Grant us thy domain and primal strength. Accept us in the power we possess. Make us mind and heart and spirit joy. Let the hand encompass us. Do thy will. Spiritus...Spirit."

"Animus...Heart."

"Sophus...Mind."

"And Manus... the Hand."

"We enjoin that we may inhabit the vessel—the Hand...daughter of Sineya...first of the ones... We implore thee, admit us, bring us to the vessel. Take us now."

***

"It was an experiment. The Initiative represented the Government's interests in not only controlling the otherworldly menace, but harnessing its power for our own military purposes. The considered opinion of this counsel is that this experiment has failed. Once the prototype took control of the complex, our soldiers suffered a 40 percent casualty rate. It is due to the actions of a deserter and a group of insurrectionists that our losses were not total. I trust the irony of that is not lost on any of us. Maggie Walsh's vision was brilliant, but ultimately unsupportable. The demons cannot be harnessed. Cannot be controlled. It is therefore our recommendation that this project be terminated and all records concerning it expunged. Our soldiers'll be debriefed. Standard confidentiality clause. We will monitor the civilians and usual measures prepared should they try to go public. I don't think they will. The Initiative itself will be filled in with concrete. Burn it down, gentlemen. Burn it down and salt the Earth."

*******************  
  
  
  
Classified May, 2000

Request: 

The failure of Maggie Walsh's vision was tragic, but ultimately to be expected. The creation of a super soldier using parts of the demons he would be expected to hunt was considered ludicrous by many scientists. The experiment would only succeed in creating a copy of Frankenstein's monster, and that did not turn out particularly well either. However, the Initiative did bring to my attention the existence of something so radical that it was difficult to comprehend. A girl. The one girl in the world with the strength to destroy the demons, in fact. This presented a fascinating opportunity to scientists. Not a part demon, part human, but a human, under the control of the military, with the strength to hunt the demons.   
  
The source of this person would be the blood of Miss Summers taken when she joined the Initiative as military policy. I will attempt to clone the Slayer, in the hopes that the result will be able to be trained by the military. All I request of the military is the funds for this undertaking. 

Sincerely, Dr. Albert Kessler, MD, PhD 

A/N: Don't worry, the rest of the chapters will definitely be longer. So whatcha think? 


	2. Growing Up

Chapter Two 

"Dawn, listen to me. Listen. I love you. I will _always_ love you. But this is the work that I have to do. Tell Giles ... tell Giles I figured it out. And, and I'm okay. And give my love to my friends. You have to take care of them now. You have to take care of each other. You have to be strong. Dawn, the hardest thing in this world ... is to live in it. Be brave. Live. For me."

~

Dr. Kessler looked down at the tiny infant with a fuzz of blond hair. Even after years of being a doctor, he still marveled when a new life was begun. And this new life was especially important. The first test tube baby, if you will. He was amazed that they had managed it. Soon, they would start testing to see if the child had the strength and reflexes of a Slayer, but he was fairly sure that she would. He had done his homework, obtaining a blood sample from Buffy Summers from before she became the Slayer and comparing it to the one the Initiative had, and there were differences in the DNA. Not a lot, not big ones—but then, it was only one small thing that separated man from chimpanzee. The child would carry the Slayer abilities, he was sure. But for now he could smile and coo over the infant. She certainly was cute. 

"Sir?"

Dr. Kessler looked at one of his assistants with eyebrows raised. 

"What are you going to call her?"

Dr. Kessler surveyed the infant in the crib, thinking. When finding a name for the project, he had delved into the occult and found one that would suit. It was a legend really, the animal was not supposed to actually exist, but the shadowhound was supposed to be the only predator that no other predator could defeat. He thought it fitting. But what to call the girl? 

************  
  
"Hey, black-eyed girl. Whatcha doin'?"

"Get out of here."

"Ah, no. You're not the only one with powers, you know. You may be a hopped-up uber-witch, but this carpenter can dry-wall you into the next century."  
  
"I'm not joking, Xander. Get out of my way. Now. You can't stop this."  
  
"Yeah, I get that. It's just, where else am I gonna go? You've been my best friend my whole life. World gonna end, where else would I want to be?"  
  
"Is this the master plan? You're going to stop me by telling me you love me?"  
  
"Well, I was going to walk you off a cliff and hand you an anvil, but it seemed kinda cartoony."  
  
"Still making jokes."  
  
"I'm not joking. I know you're in pain. I can't imagine the pain you're in. And I know you're about to do something apocalyptically evil and stupid, and hey. I still want to hang. You're Willow."  
  
"Don't call me that."  
  
"First day of kindergarten. You cried because you broke the yellow crayon, and you were too afraid to tell anyone. You've come pretty far. Ending the world, not a terrific notion. But the thing is? Yeah. I love you. I loved crayon-breaky Willow and I love ... scary veiny Willow. So if I'm going out, it's here. If you wanna kill the world? Well, then start with me. I've earned that."

  
~

Dr. Kessler smiled faintly, watching the baby through the two way mirror. She was currently busy playing with one of those 'push the button, hear a sound' toys. She would push a button and her face would light up with delight as the sound came out. 

She had started crawling a few months ago and was pulling herself up at just a year old. Kessler was pretty sure she would start walking soon. One of the things that startled him as he watched her grow was her muscle control. She had a lot of it. He probably should not have been surprised, but as an infant he had expected her to follow along the lines of most infants. 

"Dr. Kessler?"

Kessler turned to look at one of his assistants. "Yes?"

"They wish to see her."

Kessler gave a brief scowl which turned into a smile as the people that had funded the project entered. "General, Major, glad you could come."

General Wallace and Major Burns, the people he answered to returned the greeting. 

"Kessler," Wallace said, glancing in the window. "That's her, is it?"

"Yes," Kessler said. "That would be her."

"How old is she?"

"She turns one in two weeks," Kessler said. "Would you like to see her?"

"No, no," Wallace said, still watching the child play. "I don't want to disturb her. Why don't we go talk about the progress of the project, shall we?"

***********  
  
"Let me tell you something about Buffy. In fact, you should all listen to this."  
  
"Uh, we kinda were."  
  
"I've been through more battles with Buffy than you all can ever imagine. She's stopped everything that's ever come up against her. She's laid down her life - literally - to protect the people around her. This girl has died two times, and she's still standing. You're scared? That's smart. You got questions? You should. But you doubt her motives, you think Buffy's all about the kill, then you take the little bus to battle. I've seen her heart, and this time not literally. And I'm telling you, right now, she cares more about your lives than you will ever know. You gotta trust her. She's earned it."  
  
"Damn, B. I never knew you were that cool."

***

"Looks like the Hellmouth is officially closed for business."  
  


"There's another one in Cleveland. Not to spoil the moment."  
  


"We saved the world."  
  


"We changed the world. I can feel them, Buffy. All over. Slayers are awakening everywhere."   
  
"We'll have to find them."  
  


"We will."  
  


"Yes, because the mall was actually in Sunnydale so there's no hope of going there tomorrow."   
  
"We destroyed the mall? I fought on the wrong side."  
  


"All those shops, gone. The Gap, Starbucks, Toy R Us…who will remember all those landmarks unless we tell the world of them?"  
  


"We have a lot of work ahead of us."  
  


"Can I push him in?"  
  


"You've got my vote."  
  


"I just want to sleep, yo. For like a week!"  
  


"I guess we all could, if we wanted to."  
  


"Yeah, The First is scrunched so… what do you think we should do, Buffy?"  
  


"Yeah, you're not the one and only Chosen anymore. Just gotta live like a person. How's that feel?"  
  


"Yeah, Buffy. What are we going to do now?"

~

Kessler called, "Rhian."  
  


The toddler looked up from her picture she was drawing and grinned. "Hi Unca Kess."  
  


Kessler crooked his finger. "Come here."  
  


Rhian toddled over, looking at the men standing beside Kessler curiously. General Wallace chuckled. "Kessler, she is adorable. Are you sure she's a warrior?"  
  


Kessler rolled his eyes, still looking at Rhian as he picked her up. "She's a toddler right now. Rhian, say hello to General Wallace and Major Burns."  
  


"'Lo Gen'ral Wall'ce, Major Burn," Rhian said obediently, and grinned at them. "Why are you here?"  
  


"To see you," General Wallace said, smiling. "Seriously Kessler, she is adorable." He looked at the doctor. "Just make sure she's a warrior."   
  


A/N: I know, I promised longer chapters. They're coming! 


	3. Changes

Chapter 3

_12 Years Later_

Buffy Summers looked around the apartment as she turned on the light. "Home sweet home. Well, kind of."

Dawn Summers walked up behind her sister. "What, you don't like being back in America?"

Buffy turned. "It's not that—okay, it is that. We were in Europe for twelve years. It's kinda weird being back in the states."

"Tell me about it," Dawn grinned. "No English accents, no French men, no—"

"Stop it!" Buffy gave her younger sister a mock glare. "Don't tell me you don't miss Paris at night."

Dawn snorted. "Buffy, we've been here for like, thirty minutes. Give it a try. Besides, it's New York—much more foreign than California would be. Although, there is the Angel factor…"

Buffy gave her sister a push and said, "Let's get settled. Giles said to call him when we got here."

"I'll do it," Dawn offered. She pulled out her cell-phone and dialed the familiar number. "Hey Giles—yeah, we're fine. Willow, Xander, and the rest are getting settled in their apartments…yeah, I'll tell her. Bye." 

She hung up. 

"Tell who what?" Buffy asked, poking her head out of her room. Dawn shrugged. "Message for Short Stuff."

Buffy nodded and disappeared back into her room, muttering, "The mini-Xander."

Someone pounded on their door. Dawn said, "Speak of the devil—hi Megan."

The "mini-Xander" bounced in, saying, "Hi Aunt Dawn. Mum and Dad are on the way."

"What about Willow?" Dawn asked. 

Megan rolled her eyes. "Aunt Willow's coming too. She just said she had to finish looking up some spells. Why the most powerful witch in the world needs to look up spells is beyond me, but anyway."

The nine year old plopped on the sofa that had come with the fully furnished apartment and looked at Dawn expectantly. Dawn looked back, eyebrow raised. "Something for you?"

"Aunt Dawn!" Megan groaned. "Food! Always food!"

Dawn rolled her eyes and dug through her bag, tossing the girl a bag of chips. "Don't spoil your dinner. By the way, Giles says behave."

"I always do," Megan protested and set to munching. 

Xander and his wife, Becka, walked in, talking. Becka saw Megan and said, "Hey—what'd I tell you about sneaking food from Dawn?"

"Mum!" Megan protested. "It's just chips!"

"Hmm." Becka smiled at Dawn, who smiled back before giving Megan a look. "No fair playing me against your mom, especially since you know I can't resist the puppy face."

"She did puppy face?" Xander asked, mock scowling at his daughter. "That was a low blow. Effective, but low."

"I did not do puppy face," Megan grumbled as Willow walked in, an open book in her hands. "Aunt Willow, tell them I didn't do puppy face!"

"She didn't do—what?" Willow looked up, confused. Dawn giggled and Becka chuckled. Xander said, "Hey, Will—please don't tell me we're fighting a new evil."

Willow gave her best friend a dry look. "Unless you consider an influx of sugar ants a particularly evil type of evil, I don't think you have anything to worry about."

"Sugar ants?" Megan repeated. "What are those?"

"These little ants that like to eat sugar," Willow explained. "Hence the name. They like to come inside though, and that's not good."

Buffy came out of her room. "Oh, good. You guys are here. What are we doing about dinner?"

"Well Faith said she and Robin would be at Moran's. Want to join them?"

"Sure."

"Sounds good to me."

"Count me in."

************  
  
"Again."

The teenaged girl nodded, blowing out a breath, and went through the attack again. 

"Again."

Dr. Kessler watched silently as his young protégé was put through the exercise numerous times. She was poetry in motion, he mused as he watched. Smooth, graceful, and dangerous. It was like she was dancing as she fought. He enjoyed watching her. 

The session came to an end and Rhian walked over to where her water bottle was. She was perspiring slightly and a little out of breath—that had been a harder work out than usual.

Kessler walked up. "How was it?"

Rhian glanced up then returned her attention to wiping her face. "Good. A little harder than usual, but it was good."

"Excellent," Kessler said. "Because you go out tonight."

Rhian looked up, startled, then nodded. "Yes sir."

Kessler glanced at the instructor then back at Rhian. "Be prepared by six."

"Yes sir."

Kessler walked out of the practice room and nearly ran into General Wallace. "General, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to see your little project," General Wallace said, rolling his eyes. "As usual. Where is she?"

"Rhian," Kessler called. 

Rhian came out of the practice room and halted, looking at the general. "General Wallace, sir."

"Rhian," Wallace greeted her. "How is it going?"

"Fine sir," Rhian said, glancing at Kessler. 

"Good, good," Wallace said. "You've heard that you're going out tonight for your first field job, correct?"

"Yes sir," Rhian said, straightening slightly. "I was informed."

"Excellent, excellent. Think of this as a trial run," he said, his gaze flicking between Rhian and Kessler. "I'll see you both tonight."

Rhian watched him go then looked at Kessler, worry in her eyes. "Trial run?"

"Don't worry about it," Kessler said. "You just do like you've been doing in your practices."

Rhian nodded, murmuring, "Yes sir," and headed to her room to get ready. 

When six o'clock rolled by, Rhian opened the door at Kessler's knock, dressed in the black military uniform she had with her blond hair pulled back into a ponytail and sporting two wooden stakes, two daggers, and a crossbow. 

"Ready?" Kessler asked. 

"Yes sir," Rhian nodded, closing her door and following him out. 

They got into a black van and were driven to a place about an hour away. When they got out, Rhian looked around with interest, stretching. 

"Rhian."

She turned to look at Kessler, at attention, and waited for instructions. Kessler pointed into the nearby stand of trees. "Just past the trees is a cemetery. In the cemetery is a nest of vampires. You are to take them out."

"Yes sir," Rhian said softly and, with a smooth turn, had melted into the trees. 

Kessler got back into the car and they took off. 

Rhian slipped silently through the trees, her green-blue eyes alert, her ears straining to catch any sound of a predator. She reached the other edge of the grove and halted, crouched in the shadows, her sharp eyes moving slowly over the cemetery for movement. There—near the crypt to the right. Movement—several movements—predatory, cocky—dead things. 

The vampires did not know what hit them. One minute they were munching on a human, the next a black and gold whirlwind had descended into their midst, a stake in one hand and a dagger in the other. The stake hit one vampire in the heart, just as the dagger severed another's head. The other three vampires did not even have time to react before another of their number was dust. 

One snarled and leapt in to fight her and got a roundhouse to the face for his troubles. The other was staked in the back as he tried to flee, then she turned to face the last one. 

He roared and lunged for her. She didn't move, holding her stake still, and he impaled himself. She rolled her eyes, muttering, "Dumb vampires."

"Good show!"

The voice startled her and she spun, her stake raised. When she saw the general walking up, Kessler right behind him, she lowered her hand and stood at attention. "Sirs."

"That was an excellent job," Kessler told her with a brief smile. 

"Excellent?" Wallace snorted. "That was brilliant. You were right Kessler—she is pure warrior."

Rhian brightened slightly at the praise as Kessler said smugly, "Of course she is. All right Rhian, stand down and get in the car."

Rhian obeyed, climbing into her seat as Wallace and Kessler walked up a little more slowly, discussing. 

**************  
  
"Lookie what we have here," Buffy said under her breath, staring around the huge gym. "Mini-me central."

Faith laughed. "Come on B, you've got to be used to this by now."

"Well, yeah," Buffy admitted, still staring at the American Slayers who had come to the Slayer Training School. "But always before it was with Giles. He got to be patient and I got to teach them how to kick the undead asses of vampires. Now I have to be patient too."

Faith grinned. "You've got me, remember? You get to be patient and I get to teach them how to kick the undead asses of vampires."

"Thanks ever so much," Buffy muttered, but she smiled at the dark haired Slayer. Ever since the battle with the First, she and Faith had gone back to getting along pretty well. Prison had done Faith a lot of good, teaching her how to control her temper and not get too into the whole "kicking of the ass" part of slaying. They still bickered and threw verbal barbs and jabs at each other, but that seemed to just be their relationship. Without the verbal sparring, it would be no fun. 

Robin Wood walked up wearing loose training clothes and gave Faith a kiss. Buffy smiled, rolling her eyes. Robin had also been an extremely good influence on the other Slayer. She had learned to trust, how to love. They had been together for the last twelve years and, aside from the occasional semi-weekly bickering match, they were really cute together as far as Buffy was concerned. What she was not concerned with was what went on behind closed doors—or open ones, of which you had to be careful with. Twelve years and another three in prison had not made Faith a shy girl. 

"Okay!"

And there was Xander, best buddy to her and Willow, husband to Becka, a completely normal person aside from the fact that her sister was a Slayer, father to The Brat (at least as far as Buffy was concerned even though she loved the girl dearly) and confidante of the younger Slayers. 

He now stood in the front of the huge room, waiting for the girls to stop talking. When they didn't, he put a whistle to his lips and blew hard. The screech made the younger Slayers yell, Buffy and Faith flinch, and Robin say, "Well that got their attention."

"Thank you," Xander said into the silence. "Let's try to pay attention to what's going on around us ladies. We really don't want you getting eaten by a vampire because you didn't learn how to pay attention now do we?"

"If they make a sound like that before they attack, we should be fine," a girl from Florida joked. The rest of them snickered. Xander sighed, raising his eyes to the ceiling—or the heavens, depending on what day it was. "Lord help me," he muttered. He looked at the girls. "Generally vampires aren't nice enough to give you that sort of warning before attacking you. However, there are plenty who are nice enough to say something beforehand, so you may be in pretty good shape."

"Look Mr—"

"Xander," Xander said, looking at the girl. She seemed around fourteen or so. Perfect age for being a brat. 

"Mr. Xander. I mean, you've got an eye-patch. How are you supposed to teach us how to fight?"

Faith grabbed Buffy's arm as the blond haired Slayer growled, "Oh no she did not just say that about Xander."

"Chill B," the dark haired Slayer said calmly. "She's just a kid. She'll figure it out soon enough."

Buffy glared daggers at the girl, who had not seen her in the back of the room, but reluctantly relaxed. "Fine, but one of these days she steps up to spar and I'll be waiting."

"And more power to ya," Faith said, frowning. "I've seen her—she does need to be taken down a peg or to. Just not today."

Buffy looked at her. "Wanna help me with the 'we help mankind, there is no killing of people just because they piss you off' speech?"

"Sure I'll be convincing enough?" Faith teased. "Sure."

They walked up, their strides matching, and joined Xander at the front. There were whispers from those who had been there longer about who they were. Faith muttered to Buffy, "Check it out Buff, we're famous."

"Took you this long to figure it out?" Buffy muttered back as they stopped next to Xander, who said, "Obviously some of you already know who these two are, but for those of you who just arrived, this is Buffy and this is Faith. They'll be your instructors. They've also been Slayers a whole lot longer than any of you have."

"Yeah, Buffy here even remembers what it was like when there was only one Slayer," Faith joked. 

Buffy glared at her. "Sure, make me feel old why don't you."

"Hey, if I'm able to make you feel old…" Faith let the sentence hang as Buffy's glare intensified. 

"I can still wipe the floor with your face you know," Buffy snapped. 

"Really," Faith said lazily. "I doubt it."

Xander took a prudent step back as Buffy took a swing at Faith. The dark haired Slayer took the punch and retaliated, throwing a punch at Buffy then a kick, at which point it was impossible to tell where one ended and the other began. 

The Slayers in training watched in awe as their teachers continued to fight. It was like it was choreographed or something, each blow being returned by an equally fast and equally dangerous one, and yet neither of them seemed to be losing. That is, until Buffy went down in a move Giles had recently taught her and swept Faith's feet out from under her. Faith hit the floor on her back and found herself face to fist with Buffy. "All right, all right, I yield. Don't break my jaw."

Buffy rose and offered her hand, which Faith took, and they bowed. 

The Slayers clapped and cheered. Someone demanded, "That was planned?"

"The first hit was," Faith said easily. "The rest of it we made up as we went along. The winner—that's never planned."

"And yet one would think it was, as I always win," Buffy grinned. 

Faith cast her a sideways glance. "I dunno—there was that time after I woke up—I definitely won that fight, seeing as you were me and I was you."

Buffy leveled a look at her. "Faith. I'm in a good mood. Do you really want to see me go from good mood to bad mood in .5?"

"That long huh?" Faith chuckled. "Okay, okay, I'll shut up. It's your guys-es turns to fight anyway."

***********  
  
Rhian came out of her room and halted, staring at what looked like an argument between Wallace and Kessler at the end of the hall. She hesitated, unwilling to attract attention but wanting to hear what was being said. They solved that problem for her when Kessler raised his voice, snapping, "This is _my project!"_

"Was," Wallace said coldly. "Your part in it is finished. You have raised the girl and sufficiently trained her that she has proven that she can be useful, you have succeeded in creating what you set out to create, but we will take it from here."

Kessler, incensed, turned away from Wallace and saw Rhian, standing by her door, confused and a little worried. He let out a vicious curse and turned back to Wallace, hissing, "I created a warrior, not a trained hunter."

Wallace lifted an eyebrow and said just as softly as Kessler, "I don't really see a difference."

He raised his voice. "Rhian."

Rhian walked over, a little wary, and stood at attention. "Sir?"

Wallace glanced at the girl. "Get your things together. You leave tonight."

Rhian, stunned, opened her mouth to ask why then closed it and nodded. "Yes sir."

A/N: See? Longer. ^_^


	4. Slayer

Chapter 4

1 ½ Years Later

General Wallace watched the girl pummel the demon, quite pleased with what he saw. It had taken some intensive work—that fool, Kessler, had allowed the girl to question him on his orders, had made sure she learned to think for herself, a trait he was not interested in—but she was now all he hoped for: obedient, fast, silent, and deadly. He wondered if it would be possible to create an army comprised of more clones—that would be excellent. His eyes shone at the thought of a Slayer army. 

She was his now; she listened to no one else but him. That was another thing he had required of her. And her name—his face twitched. The name of a child, a high-schooler. He had changed that to a more suiting name for such a deadly weapon. A louder groan than usual brought him back to the matter at hand. 

"Cease."

The girl instantly stepped back, her eyes on Wallace as she waited for the next command. Wallace nudged the demon with his toe, admiring her work, then said, "If you do not give me the information I require, you will die."

The demon spat out some blood and looked up. "I'm telling you, I don't know where he is. He vanishes, shows up somewhere years later, and vanishes again. It's impossible to track him."

Wallace looked at him in disgust. "You are sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," the demon growled. 

Wallace nodded and turned, walking back to the truck as he tossed over his shoulder, "Kill him."

The sound of a neck snapping made him smile. He opened the door to the car and looked at the girl. "Slayer, get in the car."

Rhian, the Slayer, obeyed silently, her blue eyes void of emotion as she watched the scenery pass. 

******

"Buffy."

Buffy turned and smiled at the red-haired 12 year old walking up to her. "Hi Keely. What's up?"

"Willow said she had something to show you," Keely, Willow's adopted daughter, said. 

"What is it?"

Keely shrugged. "Dunno, she didn't say. Something about a spell she was reading, although why the most powerful witch in the world can't just make her own up..."

Buffy shrugged and followed the girl. She had been a victim of a vampire nest here in New York. Her family had been killed, and she had been kidnapped for some reason. Spike had mentioned when they raided the nest and found her that some vampires kept pets, a fact that had made Buffy become irritated. But Keely seemed to be doing all right, and she had taken to Willow almost immediately. Maybe it was the red hair thing, maybe something else, but Willow had taken to her as well, so Keely had stayed with them as Willow's unofficially adopted daughter. 

They entered house. "Willow?"

No answer. Buffy raised an eyebrow at Keely, who said, "She must've moved to the back."

"Right," Buffy said skeptically, but she made her way to the kitchen. 

"Surprise!"

Buffy looked at her friends, bemused for a minute before she realized. "Guys! What happened to no more birthday parties for Buffy? Remember what happens every time?"

"Not since we left Sunnydale," Dawn said comfortably. "Come on, blow out the candles, I'm ready for cake."

Buffy just smiled and shook her head as she blew out the candles and cut the first slice. 

"Look what the cat dragged in," Faith said from behind Buffy, a bleach haired vampire behind her. Buffy glanced at him, amused. "Cat's losing its touch. Hi Spike."

"Slayer," Spike greeted her. "I came—is that cake?"

Robin and his and Faith's ten year old son Andy came in, Andy heading straight for Megan and Keely, all three waiting eagerly for their cake. 

"Scoobies," Spike said in greeting, his eyes torn away from the cake. "And Rupert—what are you doing here?"

Giles looked at the vampire and said dryly, "Well, I do occasionally visit, Spike. It's a thing I do."

"I think we're rubbing off on him," Xander whispered to Willow, who whispered back, "You think?"

"C'mon Aunt Buffy, cake," Megan begged. "Please?"

"It's Scoobies: The Next Generation," Spike said, locating the kids. "You lot need to settle down. Buffy, do they really need more sugar?"

"Probably not," Buffy agreed. "But they're going to get it."

"I think I'm going to go ahead and get out of the line of fire," Spike muttered. "Just package me a piece of cake to go."

"Did you want something?" Buffy asked as she sliced him a piece of cake. 

"Just to say hi and happy birthday and Angel's going to be by in a few days," Spike said. He grabbed the cake, waved, and got out of firing range as the kids got their pieces. 

******

Wallace looked at the large building set in the middle of nowhere with grim satisfaction from a mountain road. He had finally found an informant who knew where the target would be. Now it was time to get rid of said target. 

He looked at the Slayer, who was studying the building and the surrounding forest with a calculating eye. "Slayer."

She looked up. "Sir."

"You know what to do."

She nodded once and vaulted the fence, sliding down the mountain. Yes, she knew what to do. Locate target and take it out. 

She reached the building and silently peered inside a window. She knew what the target looked like, though she had no picture. Supposedly he would be unmistakable. 

In the window she could see several females sparring. A group of people walked through a door a few minutes later and she tensed. There he was. Her eyes narrowed as she regarded him. It was time to go to work. 

*********  
  
The people in the room all looked up at the sound of a window crash and saw a black and gold streak shot in through the open window and head directly for the group of people who had just entered. 

Buffy shoved Willow, Dawn, and Giles back, moving into a fighting stance. Angel lunged for the assailant as it reached them, his fist connecting solidly with bone. 

The girl didn't make a sound, rounding on him with a cold expression on her face and aiming a roundhouse kick at his chin. He blocked it and punched her again. 

Buffy jumped in, catching the girl a hard blow to her back. She did not hardly seem to feel it, doing a spinning kick and hitting Buffy upside the head before returning her attention to Angel with a quick series of punches and kicks that pushed him back against a wall. 

Willow recovered from being shoved out of the way and said, "Kali, Hera, Kronos, Tonic. Air like nectar, thick as onyx. Cassiel by your second star, hold mine victim as in tar."

The girl was halted by the spell, and she looked at Willow, a glimmer of surprise and—was that approval?—in her eyes. Buffy ignored that, glaring at the girl. "Who are you?"

The girl remained silent. 

Buffy glared at her. 

Xander stared as the girl managed to straighten into a standing position. "Uh, Buffy?"

Willow saw the same thing and said, "Oh my God—Buffy, she looks exactly like you."

"What?"

Buffy gave the girl another look and her mouth dropped. "Oh my—how—Giles?"

Giles adjusted his glasses, peering at the girl. "Extraordinary," he murmured. "She is a copy of you at—how old does she look—sixteen? Seventeen?"

Angel looked at Buffy. "What do you want to do?"

"Let's get her downstairs before we try to talk to her," Buffy said, her arms folded. "I'd like to know why she was trying to kill you."

Willow cast a binding spell that she had learned a few years ago and released the other, allowing Angel to get the girl downstairs. He locked her in a set of manacles and stepped back. Willow released the spell as Faith, Buffy, Dawn, Xander, and Giles stared at her. 

"This is really weird," Faith said to no one in particular. 

"And the Stating-the-Obvious Award goes to," Xander murmured, but it was half-hearted. He was too busy getting his mind around the fact that there were two Buffys in the world. 

"Who sent you?" Buffy asked quietly. 

The girl just looked at her, shaking her hair out of her face. 

Buffy quickly lost patience. "Who sent you?"

Still no answer. Buffy slammed her hand onto the wall beside the girl's head, bringing her face inches from the other girl's, and repeated in a low, dangerous voice, "Who sent you."

The girl just looked at her coolly for a moment before lashing out with her foot and catching Buffy around the legs. Buffy was brought down, and she leapt to her feet with a curse. 

Faith stepped forward, ignoring Buffy's order of, "Faith, get back," and said, "Hey, chica, who do you work for?"

The girl remained silent. 

"Boy, you're a pile of fun," Faith said conversationally. The girl just looked at her. Faith could have sworn she rolled her eyes. 

~*~

They continued to question her for a while before giving up for the moment and going back upstairs. Robin met them at the door to the basement. "What's up?"

"It's like talking to a rock," Faith said. "But I think we'd've gotten more out of the rock."

"She's not talking?"

"No."

Buffy looked at Willow. "Is there a spell to make her talk?"

"I—I don't know," Willow said, startled by the question. "I don't remember ever reading about one—I could try to come up with one."

"You do that."

A few hours later, Willow studied the paper in her hand and said, "I think I've got one that will work."

"Want to try it out first?" Buffy asked. 

Willow glanced up at her. "It's a variation of a compulsion spell—if it doesn't work, it won't hurt her and I'll go back to the drawing board. But it should work."

"Okay, let's go."

The Scoobies trooped down to the basement again with Angel and Faith in tow and Willow cast her spell. Buffy, her arms crossed, said, "What's your name?"

The girl glared at them as she replied, "I am called Slayer."

"Slayer?" Xander muttered. "That's original."

"Is that really your name?" Dawn asked. 

The girl hesitated then said, "Before, I was called Rhian."

"I like Rhian better," Dawn said thoughtfully. 

"Who sent you?" Buffy asked, ignoring her sister. 

"It was General Wallace who told me to take out the target."

"General? A military person?" Xander asked. 

"Yes."

"Why?"

The girl looked at Buffy, her eyes blank. "It is not for me to question."

"Okay, that's definitely not you," Faith said with a snort. Buffy glared at her then turned back to Rhian. "So you don't know why you were supposed to kill Angel."

"Angel?"

At this point the girl looked confused. "Who is Angel?"

Buffy jerked her head towards the souled vampire. "Angel. The one you tried to kill."

The girl's face cleared. "The vampire was of no concern to me—he was only in my way."

This response startled everyone. Willow ventured, "So—who were you sent after?"

Rhian looked at the group. "The Watcher, Rupert Giles."

There was a split second of silence then, "What?"

A/N: So whatcha think? Didja expect it?


End file.
